Calligraphy workshop with a hattat

Istanbul was the centre of Islamic calligraphy for centuries, and the tradition is still taught from master to student. The workshop is led by a hattat who holds an icazet, the traditional licence given by their own teacher.

The hattat begins by showing the tools: the reed pen cut at an angle, soot ink, and the polished paper called aharlı kağıt. Then they write a few lines live, explaining the proportions measured in dots of the pen. Guests practise the basic strokes and letters on guide sheets, and in the second hour each one writes their own name or a short word, in Arabic letters, with the hattat correcting the pen angle at each table.

The pace is slow and the room is quiet, which many groups find a welcome change. At the end the hattat writes each guest's name as a keepsake, and the guest's own attempt goes home alongside it.